Three Years
by IWishIWasAMermaid
Summary: When you think about it... three years is merely onetenth of a thirtyyearolds life. It's onetwentieth of a sixtyyearolds life. Three years is hardly anything at all. OneShot.


_"I can't believe I'm actually leaving. Leaving Pickford, and everything I've ever known!" Keely sighed, as she sat in the airport. "Leaving you..."_

_Phil looked up at her. "Keels, you know that I want you to go, and I want you to have the best time in the world."_

_Keely smiled back at her best friend. "I know you do. It's just... I'm nineteen, and ever since I was fifteen, I've been with you. Every day. Day in, day out. I can't imagine being without you in another city."_

_"You won't have to imagine it Keels," Phil laughed. "You'll be living it. And you had better keep in contact."_

_"Of course I will," Keely laughed. And of course she would. It would be impossible to cut all ties with Phil. There would always be a connection with him. _

_Phil sat straighter, and turned to Via. "You'd better look after her, Vi."_

_Via raised her eyebrows. "What will you do if I don't?"_

_"Hate you," Phil narrowed his eyes. He would miss Via, but not as much as he'd miss Keely. _

_The screen flashed, and the flight to London was announced to be boarding. Keely jumped up, and gathered her bags, which were scattered over the floor. Via joined her, and watched as Phil and Owen stood up. _

_Keely looked at the guy who stood opposite her. The final person to say goodbye to...and she knew it would be the hardest. "Well... is this it?"_

_"It's as far as we can go," Phil shrugged, as they followed her to the door. The last place that those who weren't boarding the planes could venture to. _

_Via hugged both Phil and Owen, and then excused herself, telling Keely that she'd wait just inside the door. Owen told Phil that he'd wait for him over by the perfume store. Keely laughed at this. Typical Owen... waiting near a store where there'd be girls, shopping for last minute supplies. _

_"So..." Keely tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked at Phil. "I'm going to love London, Phil."_

_Phil nodded. "I know you are Keels. And London is going to love you."_

_"What if I never see you again Phil? What if you go back to the future and I'm still there, and so we never see each other again?" she sighed. It was the one thing that had prevented her from making her decision in less than a second. Nothing else had mattered. She could have dropped everything else to go to London... just not Phil. _

_"You will. I promise we'll see each other again," Phil smiled, sure that they would. He would do everything in his power just to see her again. Everything and anything. _

_Keely blinked, trying to keep the tears back. "How can you promise that? You don't know!"_

_"Keely, we'll write, and e-mail, and phone each other. You'd be the first person I'd call if there were any chance of me going back there," Phil reassured her, although he had a feeling it wouldn't. It was Keely he was talking to. And Keely was never easily reassured. _

_"Phil, stuff like this happens all the time. Best friends, who live on opposite sides of the globe, and sure, they start out writing letters every day, and calling them all the time, but soon it fizzles out. And then they forget each other! I don't want to forget you!" Keely cried. This was definitely harder than she had expected. And she wanted to stop whining now. This wouldn't happen to her and Phil. Of course they'd call. They would never forget each other. But she couldn't seem to stop talking. "And once they've forgotten each other, they become bitter and lonely, but they can't remember what they've forgotten!"_

_Phil laughed. "That will never happen to us Keels..." He looked around, trying to think of something that would help reassure her. He wanted her to go to London. And have a fantastic time. She had a job presenting the news on the national television station. It was too good an opportunity for her to pass up. He wouldn't let her pass it up. "How about...?" He trailed off. _

_"How about what?" Keely asked, wondering what he was going to say. Was he going to come with her? No. No, he wasn't. He had a life here. In Pickford. And he needed to stay here in Pickford. _

_Phil shrugged. "How about, we agree to meet? In London. In three years time, or something?"_

_"Yeah. Yeah, like in that movie my Mom used to love," Keely smiled. She doubted Phil had heard of the movie, but she didn't care. "We'll meet in London. At a specific place...and time. And no matter what happens before then... we have to be there. Unless something major happens."_

_Phil nodded. "Where do you want to meet?"_

_Keely shrugged. "The London Eye?"_

_"In exactly three years time. The twenty-fourth of November, 2010," Phil nodded. _

_"At seven-thirty. In the evening," Keely agreed._

_Phil smiled at her. "Perfect."_

_A voice erupted through the speakers, announcing the last call for the flight to London. _

_Keely sighed, and put her bag down, releasing her arms so that she could hug her best friend. "Bye Phil."_

_"Bye Keels," Phil said, hugging her back. "I'll see you in three years. Next to the London Eye. On the twenty-fourth of November."_

_"Seven-thirty," Keely agreed. Then she smiled, and pushed open the door behind her. "See you then Phil. And you best not forget!"_

_Phil shook his head. "Keely, Keely, Keely..."_

_"Don't you triple Keely me!" Keely smiled. "Bye Phil."_

_"Bye..." Phil muttered, and watched as she walked through the door, her bag in her hand. She turned and smiled at him, as she handed the flight assistant her ticket. And then the door swung shut. _

**24th November 2010 - 3 years later**

**London, UK**

**7:25pm**

A brown-haired tourist stopped outside the London Eye. To most people he was normal. Most people wouldn't even assume he was American, or that tonight was an important night for him. They'd just assume he liked the London Eye. And he did.

_Is she here yet?_ He looked around, possibly looking for someone, possibly looking for something. _I can't see her. She must not be here yet. She can't have forgotten._

He sighed, and stopped looking, deciding just to wait. He turned, looked out over the river Thames, and leant on the wall of the bridge he was standing on.

People passed by around him, all on their way to different things. Meeting different people.

_Three years has passed by so quickly. My God, it seems like yesterday I was in that airport saying goodbye. And now... here I am, in London, saying hello. Well I will be. When she comes. When she gets here. _

**7:26pm**

A blonde woman walked up the street toward the London Eye. She had passed the big wheel every day on her way to work, and each day had been another mark to make on her calendar.

Her American accent had been softened slightly, and people knew her. Some nodded, most just smiled when she walked past. She rarely got asked for an autograph. She was a news reporter, not a celebrity.

As she approached the wheel, her stomach began fluttering. She wondered if he had changed. Had he gotten where he wanted to be in life? She had. She was where she wanted to be... there was just one thing missing.

_Maybe he's forgotten. He probably has. Three years is a long time. He's forgotten._ She almost turned around right then. She was sure he'd have forgotten. But then she forced herself to keep walking. He wouldn't have forgotten.

**7:27pm**

"Dude, do you even know what she looks like now?" A blonde guy sauntered up him, and leant against the barrier on the bridge.

"I don't have to. She won't have changed that much. It's only been three years," the other man commented, not looking up.

"Three years is a very long time," the blonde commented.

The other person only shook his head. _Three years isn't that long. Not compared to a hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred. Three years was nothing at all. _

And when you think about it... three years is merely one-tenth of a thirty-year-olds life. It's one-twentieth of a sixty-year-olds life. Three years is hardly anything at all. Especially not to him.

**7:28pm**

The woman approached the foot of the bridge, and began rapidly scanning the crowd. It had died down since rush hour; five o'clock was always the busiest time in London, but there were still a few crowds. She was thankful it wasn't a weekend. Then the clubbing scene was popular, and there would be even more people around.

As she scanned, she remembered the words of advice from her best friend. 'Go with your gut instinct. You think it's him, chances are, it probably will be. And if it's not, then get to know him. He might be even better!'

The blonde smiled at the recollection, even though she knew she wouldn't need that last bit of advice. _He's gonna be here. How can a guy like him be late?_

**7:29pm**

"It's almost seven-thirty, dude," the blonde guy said, looking at his watch.

The brown-haired man rolled his eyes, and looked up at him. "I doubt she'll be here exactly at seven-thirty."

"She could be punctuation," the other said.

"Punctual. She could be punctual." The brown-haired guy turned away from the river, and began scanning the area around him. His eyes caught the gaze of a woman, walking up the bridge. _Was it...?_

**7:29pm**

She carried on walking, still looking. Not many people were alone... heck, not many people were in twos or threes... but so far, nobody seemed like him. She had assumed that she'd just know. Her gaze would fall on him, and she'd just...

Know.

A brown-haired man standing next to a blonde man had caught her eye. It definitely could be. And it just felt... felt right.

**7:30pm**

_Three years... _he thought. _And she hasn't changed a bit. Providing that that's her, that is. Although, how could it not be? _

_Three whole years, _she thought. _My God, how have I been able to stand it this long? That must be him. It just has to be. _

They walked toward each other, and just stood there, for a few seconds.

"Keely?" he asked.

"Phil?" she asked at the same time.

Both of them smiled, and Keely hugged him.

Three years really had been too long. Way too long.

**I hope this is okay. I haven't been writing as much... and this took me three months to write, which can't be good. So I'm trying to get back into this thing. Anyway, throw me a review, and I'll try to catch it. **


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